#the neon demon

You kind of have to admire Nicolas Winding Refn; love him or loathe him, he certainly marches to the beat of his own drum. It’s just a shame that his drum tends to be super pretentious/a bit too weird right now.

I can’t think of a director whose two consecutive films have caused such a divisive response from me – Drive was absolutely phenomenal and worth every single superlative thrown its way, Only God Forgives was absolutely woeful. Soulless, dull and wedged incredibly far up its own bottom. The Neon Demon is somewhere in the middle.

It’s very much a mixed bag. Pros: It looks stunning, every shot is immaculate and there’s some kind of morbid fascination that goes along with watching some of the particularly gross moments. Cons: It’s SO pretentious, it’s soulless and I didn’t care a jot about what happened to anyone. And obviously there’s no Ryan Gosling. Boo.

So, it won’t make you want to punch a wall in anger and frustration like Only God Forgives but it would also have a long way to crawl to even lick the no doubt neon trimmed heels of its infinitely superior brother Drive. Maybe worth a quick watch for the spectacle/the yuckiness if you’re super bored.

☆☆☆